Trust in state’s top artists
While no one exhibition can fully reflect the variety of contemporary art being made in Washington state today, the “Artist Trust Grant Recipients” show, under way in the Chase Gallery at Spokane City Hall, is an outstanding effort.
“This show is an opportunity for people to see the caliber and character of artwork being recognized by Artist Trust,” says Karen Mobley, Spokane Arts Commission director.
Artist Trust is a not-for-profit organization that supports Washington artists working in all creative disciplines. One of its popular programs is the Grants for Artist Projects awards for individual projects.
“With the work of 49 artists on display,” Mobley says of the Chase show, “it is a pretty good sampling of contemporary artists who have received grants in last five years.”
The show includes a wide variety of creative methods and materials.
“There is a breadth of expression from intimate and personal to a broader, more universal, political view,” Mobley says.
Spokane is represented in the show by painter Patty Dike Haag, whose work is filled with bright, saturated colors and big, bold images of everyday objects.
Other Eastern Washington artists are Renee Adams of Thorp, and Jane Orleman and Donna Stack of Ellensburg.
The show also includes the work of Mark Abrahamson, Kathryn Altus, Sharron Antholt, John Armstrong, Howard Barlow, Neal Bashor, Gretchen Bennett, Francesca Berrini, Judy Blanco, Erika Carter, Daniel Cautrell, Diem Chau, Lisa Chun, James Cicatko, Chris Engman and Kathleen Fruge-Brown.
Other artists with work in the exhibit are Christopher Gibbs, Julia Haack, Christopher Harris, Marie Hassett, Eva Isaksen, Charra Jarosz, Amanda Knowles, Kim Kopp, Gloria Lamson, Susan Langlois, Michael Leavitt, Rich Lehl and Kathlyn Leighton.
Rounding out the exhibit are works by Ian Martin, Jennifer McNeely, Brad Miller, Sequoia Miller, Saya Moriyasu, Chauney Peck, Nancy Peterfreund, Beb Reynol, Elise Richman, Toi Sennhauser, Eva Skold Westerlind, Stephanie Speight, David Traylor, Mi Wu and Robert Yoder.
A closing reception will be Aug. 4 from 5 to 8 p.m., during that month’s First Friday Artwalk.
The Chase Gallery is located in the lower level of Spokane City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. (use the Post Street entrance). Gallery hours are Monday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
‘Musings’ at SFCC
Spokane artist Jeanette Kirishian is showing a new series of multi-source digital prints at the Spokane Falls Community College Gallery of Art through July 14.
Kirishian’s art has long been informed by the beauty, texture, color and pattern of Oriental rugs.
“Before the 1915 expulsion and extermination of the Armenians from Turkey, my grandfather, using cottage industry, was a carpet manufacturer,” she says in a news release. “Later, when the family came to America, hand-knotted rugs were the means to their livelihood.”
A second inspiration for Kirishian is prehistoric rock art, especially pictographs from the Armenian mountains.
“These ancient images of mysterious signs, animals and humans are a connection to the past, a part of history, a continuum,” she says. “They are a manifestation of the human need to express ideas and feeling in visual form. They testify to the strong human need to record.”
There is an opening reception Friday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the gallery, Building 6, on the college campus, 3410 Fort George Wright Drive.
View her latest digital prints in the free gallery, Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
‘Legacy in Art Education’
Opening Monday in Eastern Washington University’s Gallery of Art is “Legacy in Art Education,” an exhibition of artwork by area high school art teachers and students.
It features a diverse array of artistic styles in a wide variety of mediums. Participating schools include Central Valley, Lewis and Clark, Ferris, Shadle Park and University.
Meet the artists Monday at the opening reception at noon in the gallery, in the Art Building at Seventh and I streets in Cheney.
The exhibition will be up through July 28. The free gallery is open to the public weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Entrée Gallery
“North by Northwest,” a home furnishings show by Cindi Moore, begins Friday at the Entrée Gallery. It includes a collection of lodge furnishings that feature hand-painted landscapes and wildlife.
The gallery, open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is on Reeder Bay Road, two miles east of Nordman near Elkins Resort.
Sunset shows Simpson
Jo Simpson’s paintings live in the world somewhere between abstraction and realism.
“My painting reflects a flavor of both,” says the Coeur d’Alene artist.
“I have always had a fascination with the aspect of art which interprets and expresses the ‘spirit of nature,’ ” she says in an artist statement. “My paintings are a result of my love of color, texture and excitement of discovery.”
The Sunset Gallery in Harrison, Idaho, is showing 10 of Simpson’s large acrylic and mixed-media paintings through July 14.
The galley seeks out nontraditional contemporary art by regional artists in a variety of creative expressions.
Work is on view by artists including Vicky Bishop, Fred Pottraz, Jo Fyfe, Gay Waldman, Rhea Giffin, Lupe Payne, Roy Lammer, Dorian Renando, Lizette Fife, Andrea Evarts, Denise Oliver, Rebecca York, Larry Ritter, Jimmy Johnson, Rick Galbraith, Caroline Bishop and the I-90 Sisters.
The gallery, 200 S. Coeur d’Alene Ave. in Harrison (above One Shot Charlie’s Bar and Restaurant), is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Summer hours, beginning July 4, will be 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.